Speak to the kohanim: Heb. אֱמֹר וְאָמַרְתָּ “Speak [to the Kohanim …] and say [to them],” lit. “Say…and you shall say.” [This double expression comes] to admonish the adult [Kohanim to be responsible] for the minors [that they must not contaminate them (Mizrachi)]. — [Yev. 114a]

אמר אל הכהנים: אמור ואמרת, להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים:

the sons of Aaron: [Had Scripture used just this expression,] I would have thought that even desecrated [kohanim, those born from forbidden unions, as in verse 7, are included in this admonition to separate from uncleanness]. Scripture, therefore, states, “the kohanim ” [to teach us that the admonition applies only to non-desecrated kohanim].

בני אהרן: יכול חללים, תלמוד לומר הכהנים:

the sons of Aaron: Even those who have defects are implied.

בני אהרן: אף בעלי מומין במשמע:

the sons of Aaron: But not the daughters of Aaron, [who may become defiled for the dead]. — [Torath Kohanim 21:1,2]

בני אהרן: ולא בנות אהרן:

Let none [of you] defile himself [for a dead person] among his people: While the dead person is among his people [and therefore has people, non- kohanim, to bury him]. This comes to exclude [from the prohibition a kohen who comes across] a מֵת מִצְוָה, [a dead person for whom no one is in calling distance to attend to his burial and thus it is incumbent for people to attend to him]. — [Torath Kohanim 21:4]

לא יטמא בעמיו: בעוד שהמת בתוך עמיו, יצא מת מצוה:

2except for his relative who is close to him, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother,

4[But] a husband shall not defile himself for [a wife who causes] his desecration, [while she is] among his people.

דלֹ֥א יִטַּמָּ֖א בַּ֣עַל בְּעַמָּ֑יו לְהֵ֖חַלּֽוֹ:

[But] a husband shall not defile himself for [a wife who causes] his desecration, [while she is] among his people: He may not defile himself for his [deceased] wife who was unfit for him, and by whom he was desecrated [from his status,] while she was with him. — [Torath Kohanim 21:10; Yev.22b] And this is the simple meaning of the verse: “A husband shall not defile himself” for his relative [i.e., his wife], while she is still “among his people,” i.e., while she has [non- kohen] relatives who can attend to her burial, for she is therefore not under the category of an unattended deceased. And which relative [i.e., wife] are we dealing with here? [With a wife] “through whom he becomes desecrated (לְהֵחַלּוֹ),” i.e., [because she was unfit to marry him,] he subsequently becomes desecrated from his kehunah [and is unfit to perform the Holy Service].

They shall not make bald patches on their heads: for a deceased. But are not [all] Israelites warned against this (see Deut. 14:1)]? However, when referring to the Israelites, Scripture says, “[You shall not…make any baldness] between your eyes [for the dead]” (Deut. 14:1). Thus, one might think that one is not liable [for making bald patches] anywhere else on the head. Scripture, therefore, says [regarding kohanim] “[They shall not make bald patches] on their heads” [teaching us that the prohibition applies to the entire head]. And we can extrapolate from kohanim to all Israelites through a gezeirah shavah [i.e., a Rabbinical tradition linking the laws of two otherwise unrelated verses or passages through common key words or phrases, as follows]: Here [regarding kohanim] Scripture uses the expression קָרְחָה - bald patches, and there regarding Israelites, Scripture [also] uses the expression קָרְחָה - bald patches. Thus, just as here [regarding kohanim, the prohibition applies to] the entire head, so is it understood further [regarding all Israelites], [that the prohibition applies to] the entire head, wherever one makes a bald patch on the head, [not just “between the eyes”], and just as there [regarding all Israelites, the prohibition applies to making bald patches only as a gesture of mourning] over a dead person [(see Deut. 14:1), “You shall not…make any baldness…for the dead”] - so, here [regarding kohanim, the prohibition applies to making bald patches only as a gesture of mourning] over a dead person. — [Torath Kohanim 21:11; Mak. 20a]

nor shall they shave the edge of their beard: Since it is stated in reference to all Israelites, “and you shall not destroy [the edge of your beard]” (Lev. 19:27), one might think that if one removed [the hairs] with tweezers or with a plane, one would be liable [to lashes]. Therefore, it says [here], “nor shall they shave,” [meaning] that one is liable only for something called “shaving” (גִּלוּחַ) with “destruction” (הַשְׁחָתָה) involved in it - that being a razor. — [Mak. 21a]

nor shall they make cuts in their flesh: יִשְׂרְטוּ שָׂרֶטֶת, lit. “nor shall they cut a cut in their flesh.” [Why the double language?] Since regarding [all] Israelites, Scripture states (Lev. 19:28), “You shall not make cuts in your flesh for a person [who died],” one might think, that if someone made [several, e.g.,] five cuts, he would be liable for [having transgressed] only one [negative commandment]. Scripture, therefore, states, “nor shall they cut a cut,” to make one become liable for every individual cut made. For this word שָׂרֶטֶת is superfluous and thus is to be expounded [as above], as Scripture could have [merely] written, “nor shall they cut,” [in which case] I would have known that it means [not to cut] a cut. [Hence, the superfluous שָׂרֶטֶת was written to make one liable for each individual cut.]- [Torath Kohanim 21:12]

They shall be holy: [Since Scripture does not state “They are holy,” but rather “They shall be holy,” it means that if kohanim wish to defile themselves over the dead and thereby desecrate their holiness]-against their will, the court must [prevent them from doing so, and thereby] sanctify them in this respect. — [Mizrachi; Torath Kohanim 21:13]

קדשים יהיו: על כרחם יקדישום בית דין בכך:

7They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute or who is desecrated, and they shall not marry a woman who is divorced from her husband for he [the kohen] is holy to his God.

who is a prostitute: Heb. זֹנָה, [a woman] with whom an Israelite who is forbidden to her, has cohabited, for example, [relationships] punishable by excision (see Lev., Chapter 18), or a nathin [a descendant of the Gibeonites who were converted at the time of Joshua (see Josh., chapter 9) and who were forbidden to marry into Israel for all generations], or a mamzer [a product of a forbidden union]. — [Torath Kohanim 21:14; Yev. 61b]

זנה: שנבעלה בעילת ישראל האסור לה, כגון חייבי כריתות או נתין או ממזר:

who is desecrated: Heb. חֲלָלָה, [a woman] who was born from one who is unfit for the kehunah, for example, the daughter of a widow from a Kohen Gadol or the daughter of a divorcee from an ordinary kohen [the children of such unions becoming “desecrated” from the kehunah]. Also, [the term חֲלָלָה includes a woman] who becomes desecrated from the kehunah through relations with one of those who are themselves disqualified for the kehunah. — [Kid. 77a]

If [a kohen’s daughter] becomes desecrated through adultery: Heb. כִּי תֵחֵל. [The word תֵּחֵל here, stems from the word חִלּוּל, desecration, and not from the word הַתְחָלָה, beginning, and thus, the phrase here means:] If she becomes desecrated (תִּתְחַלֵּל) through a forbidden union, whereby she had a marriage-bond to a man and she committed adultery-whether [this bond had been] a betrothal or a marriage. And our Rabbis differ with regards to the matter [i.e., as to which stage of marriage-bond is referred to here]. All agree, however, that Scripture did not speak of a single woman. — [Sanh. 50b-51a]

10And the kohen who is elevated above his brothers, upon whose head the anointment oil has been poured or who has been inaugurated to wear the garments he shall not leave his hair unshorn or rend his garments.

he shall not leave his hair unshorn: Heb. לֹא יִפְרָע. He shall not leave his hair unshorn as a gesture of mourning. — [Torath Kohanim 21:27] Now what is considered “leaving one’s hair unshorn?” More than thirty days. — [Sanh. 22b]

לא יפרע: לא יגדל פרע על אבל. ואיזהו גידול פרע, יותר משלשים יום:

11And he shall not come upon any dead bodies; he shall not defile himself for his father or his mother.

dead bodies: [This comes] to include [the law that] revi’ith [a “quarter” of a log] of blood [issued] from a dead person, defiles [anything found] in the tent. — [Sanh. 4a]

נפשת מת: להביא רביעית דם מן המת שמטמא באהל:

he shall not defile himself for his father or his mother: [Since the Kohen Gadol, unlike the ordinary kohen (see verse 2 above), is forbidden to defile himself for any dead body, even for his parents, this seemingly superfluous statement here comes only] to permit him [to defile himself] for a מֵת מִצְוָה, a dead person for whom there is no one to attend to [his burial]. — [Torath Kohanim 21:28; Nazir 48a]

לאביו ולאמו לא יטמא: לא בא אלא להתיר לו מת מצוה:

12He shall not leave the Sanctuary, and he will not desecrate the holy things of his God, for the crown of his God's anointing oil is upon him. I am the Lord.

He shall not leave the Sanctuary: He shall not [leave the precincts of the Sanctuary to] follow the funeral procession [even of a relative]. — [Sanh. 18a] Furthermore, from here, our Rabbis learned that a Kohen Gadol may offer up sacrifices [even] if he is an onen [i.e., if his close relative died on that day]. [The following, therefore], is its meaning [i.e., the meaning of the verse]: Even if his father or mother died, [the Kohen Gadol] need not leave the Sanctuary, but he may perform the service. — [Sanh. 84a]

he will not desecrate the holy things: [meaning] that he does not thereby desecrate the Holy Service, for Scripture has permitted him [to perform the Holy Service under such circumstances]. However, an ordinary kohen who performs the Holy Service while being an onen, desecrates [it]. — [Sanh. 84a]

a woman who is desecrated: [The terms וַחֲלָלָה זֹנָה are not to be connected to mean a חֲלָלָה who is a זֹנָה, but rather, they should be read as two separate items, וַחֲלָלָה and then זֹנָה Thus, חֲלָלָה here refers to a woman] who was born from those unfit for the kehunah. — [see Rashi verse 7 above; Torath Kohanim 21: 34]

וחללה: שנולדה מפסולי כהונה:

15And he shall not desecrate his offspring among his people, for I am the Lord, Who sanctifies him.

And he shall not desecrate his offspring: But, if he does marry one of those [women listed in the verse as] being unfit [to marry a Kohen Gadol], his offspring from that woman are desecrated from the holiness of the kehunah [and are permitted to defile themselves for the dead, and they may marry a widow or a divorcee]. — [Nachalath Yaakov; Torath Kohanim 21:34]